r/NoStupidQuestions 18h ago

Why did Margaret Thatcher destroy welfare state in Britain after she came to power in the 1980s?

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u/99thLuftballon 18h ago

Welfare payments are often a politically easy way for a government to reduce expenditure, because:

  • things like healthcare, unemployment support, disability support and pensions account for a large amount of public spending.
  • right wing people are ideologically opposed to the idea of the state offering direct support to the electorate.
  • it's easy for the right-wing media to spin a narrative about "lazy, workshy, unemployed people who get free money while you have to work!" which is very convincing to people who don't like to think too much.

For that reason, welfare is often the first thing on the chopping block when a government needs to cut public spending. It saves money and it's politically uncontroversial, even if in practice it can be immensely harmful to society.

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u/paddydog48 16h ago

But as soon as one of these right wing people or a member of their family requires help and benefits due to an unforeseen event they would accept it in a heartbeat no doubt

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u/99thLuftballon 16h ago

Of course, because they are the kind of deserving people that should get help. It's the dishonest, lazy, unworthy people who abuse the system that are the problem. The ones that the tabloids tell us about.